In the past, the Record Industry Association of America has gone after numerous college students, including some at NIU, for illegal file sharing.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America’s Web site, individuals who illegally download movies have also been sued for copyright infringements.

“Damages for copyright infringement range from $30,000 to $150,000 per work and, if there is criminal prosecution, could include up to five years in jail,” said the MPAA site.

Walter Czerniak, associate vice president of Information Technology Services, said ITS is notified when an internet provider (IP) address is suspected of illegal file sharing. He said the majority of these notices comes from the RIAA, but recently, he has noticed an increase from the MPAA.

The MPAA is trying to get legislation passed that would pressure universities to police their own networks – something that would be unmanageable, he said.

“The MPAA has been consistently trying to get [universities’] funding changed,” he said. “For some reason, they’ve decided we are weak.”

In addition to the MPAA and the RIAA targeting individuals, ITS, on rare occasions, will disable a student’s Internet access if they see suspicious activity, Czerniak said.

“If we detect an inordinate amount of activity on a particular IP, we may go shut it down,” Czerniak said. “We then contact the student and see what’s going on. It may or may not have to do with copyright issues.”

David Gunkel, associate professor of communication, said the MPAA may be learning from the mistakes of the RIAA, who have sometimes been criticized for targeting college-age file-sharers who can’t afford to pay the fines.

“I think they have learned how the RIAA has mismanaged the response,” he said. “They’re being a little more guarded.”

Downloading movies has not reached the same level of popularity that downloading music has. One reason is the time it takes to download a movie, Gunkel said.

“It takes too long to make it truly convenient,” he said.

According to Czerniak, it can take 15 to 20 minutes to download a movie. A song, however, can be downloaded in seconds.

Robert M. Miller, associate professor of communication, also believes movies are not downloaded as much as music because of the cost.

“DVDs aren’t horribly expensive,” Miller said. “I think you’re getting more value getting movies on disc than getting music on a disc.”

Czerniak said illegal file sharing causes problems for the university as a whole.

“Our job here is to make sure students get an education,” he said. “It’s a distraction for everybody. It’s something we’re spending money on that we don’t want to be spending money on.”

The issues surrounding illegal file sharing have become prevalent in society over the past few years, but Miller said that “stealing” movies is not a new problem.

“Movie piracy is something as old as the movie industry itself,” Miller said. “Now, it’s done digitally.”